The Dresden Files: Caught in the Undertow

I meant Bart, of course.

As for Guan, I sort of meant him as the fount of power that Sanya taps into when he uses his abilities. Faith is what grants the powers, and he is the being that grants them, rather then Heaven. Not the regular beings, such as warding off certain creatures, but the Sword of the Cross abilities, all the light, cutting through anything, destiny arranging for you to show up when needed, bullets somehow missing and all the rest.

If I were a monomaniacal DresFiles Fan, I'd freak out and spout something about 'canon'.

But I'm not: Bring on the Great Sages of Heaven!!!!!!

...Say, can Sanya use Taoist Magic now?

Only without thinking. It's not his power, it's the power of Guan Yu acting through him (Sanya is unaware of this). So if he calls for help, that help can come in the form of Taoist magic.

That's right. Pitcher. Of Gin.

We don't all have healthy coping mechanisms.

Well...Wizard Metabolism *Shrug*

But yeah: this is exactly what McCoy should be feeling right now after having his grandson murdered. By Kincaid.

....Yikes. If he ever learns that Kincaid pulled the trigger...Satellite-aggedon

Actually, Kincaid's numerous actions within this roleplaying campaign have put him on the shit-lists of so many people, I'll be surprised if he lives through this.

He's already on all those lists, remember. He's just moved up a few steps higher. I doubt he's even particularly concerned.

Here's my plan:

We set up a Tableau wherein Thomas and Sanya have a discussion in front of Deirdre when she wakes up (one of the topics being that Fix has left for the hospital).

Then Thomas will pretend to punch out Sanya and 'reveal' that he's been working for Tessa as a Free Agent all along (Dun Dun Dunnn!). He'll 'help' Deirdre escape from Marcone in a non-violent fashion (With Fix all the while following underneath some heavy, heavy Glamours), and since Nicodemus is currently off-bounds, nudge Deirdre into trying to rendezvous with her Mom and if possible, spill the beans on what's going on.

Once Tessa's location is discovered, or Deirdre lets slip enough investigable secrets, Fix and Thomas blindside her and take her down. It's possible that we could borrow some Tranq darts for that.

I will admit that it's a risky plan; but as Fix pointed out, Deirdre's our main lead.

Sooooo.....Yea or Nay

Thomas would go with that. He's White Court, its his version of the great curse (if you don't play Exalted, ignore that reference). And he'd think he was being clever.

Of course, the problem with this is simple. Thomas will have to act evil to convince her. He'll have to seem out of control. Now he has a ready made excuse, he's trying to wrest power from Lara, but in the week or so where they move across the country, Dedire is going to be out of control, and Thomas will have to let her, in fact, he'll have to encourage her. And as you lack the resources for elaborate staging, chances are that he'll have to actually go through with it, or she'll see through it and kill him (except in the very best circumstances she is far more dangerous then he is). All in all, Fix's idea was actually a much less morally grey (or outright potentially evil) one. But only from perspective.

Finally, Sanya needs to read the Evil Overlord list. And learn these sort of plans always go wrong.

Huh. Your point is very well raised. I (and Sanya by extension) was hoping that Thomas could Sweet talk Deirdre into trying to stay under the radar, for the (very logical reason) that both Marcone, Sanya, Summer, and Sword of the Cross equipped C.P.D. members will be trying to hunt Deirdre down, and that painting the town red will merely get her captured again.

A particularly clever tactic would be for Thomas to suggest that Deirdre's dear old daddy would probably want her to be more subtle than 'Burn/Stab everything in my Path', and that said Dad would probably be proud of Deirdre for being clever.

In regards to your evil Overlord concern, I have two thoughts: one is that the greatest strength of this plan is that Deirdre probably hasn't read the Evil Overlord List, and thus will be subject to the classic 'Everyone's out for No.1' fallacy. From her point of view, there's nothing unusual about allies backstabbing each other, especially White Court allies.

Lastly, from Sanya's (and my) point of view, it's inevitable that Deirdre will figure out she's being duped, (especially since Sanya's opposed to doing any bad deeds to convince Deirdre of Thomas's evil certification). The key isn't to prevent this realization from happening, but to factor it into the plan, so that Deirdre can be blindsided and taken down before anything bad happens.

Just to be safe, I'll state that Sanya's discussed these above concerns with the rest of "Team White".

Edit: If we can get a fancy suit or two, Thomas can convince Deirdre that they can sneak out of Marcone's office by disguising themselves as 'associates'. Pragmatic, cunning, and no bloodshed.

Right. But the point is, the plan, at it's fundemental, relies on 'hopefully her first impulse will me to tell us where her mother is and wax lyrical about their evil plan, rather then do something evil'. Since the second she does something evil she calls Thomas's bluff, he has to keep her from doing anything at all. If she does, they have to fight her again, and have no other measures to fall back on if they do capture her to get the truth out of her, not to mention she might win, as she'll be trying to kill them while they have to capture her alive, and they'll be split up.

Fix wants to raise that point, but can't, on account of delibating throat injuries, and Thomas doesn't think of it.

Alright, I'm ready.

Sorry if I'm godmodding, Colesign.

I'm waiting for your in character que, Draxx

And frankly, this is the sort of crap I expected Nicodemus to pull, Indy: so I'm not going to complain, n'er you worry.

So, Colesign. Any preference on whether you want to take Dee for a ride on the Temptation Express? I'd rather not have us godmod over each other or anything. It's your character, and I don't want a repeat of what happened with Gulping.

As long as nobody starts sending me private messages bitching everytime I make a call that doesn't go exactly his way, I don't think that will be a problem. None of us think 'it's all about me'.

In regards to the Temptation express, I planned on playing it by ear. Either path would have been cool, character wise.

While Nicodemus was playing his "Noble Yuppie" persona for all it was worth, Bartholomew probably would have been willing to accept a coin, especially since he had no idea of what the consequence were.

In terms of the Magic trick thing, Bartholomew tried using a coin switch to trick Nicodemus into thinking that he'd touched one of the Denarian coins. I myself tried using language that 'suggested' that Bartholomew had touched the Denarian coin without actually stating it outright. If you narrated Nicodemus as taking a close gander at the coin Bartholomew was holding in his naked, the jig would have been up for him. Ditto for trying to call Bartholomew's bluff by asking him questions only demon-posessed Bartholomew would know.

Was that reasonable, Industrious? If not, I'm willing to do some retcons.

I was thinking more along the lines of "the coin burnt a hole in his glove," myself.

Well, the coin would help, in that it would give him eenough to survive. Mostly because he's a shrimp in a sea of monsters, and at least two of the badguys have no mercy to exploit, or ammusement in letting you live, and Vlad is actually trying to kill him.

But on the other hand, it would ruin your intention for the character, a normal guy playing a magnificent fake.

Of course, playing a normal guy as a magnificent fake means that if they don't buy it and kill you, you can't really complain.

You have summarized my character concept beautifully, Draxx.

...I don't think that Denarian coins can melt through cloth or leather, Industrious.

But is it alright If I hold off on the Demonic Temptation Express?

Hellfire + Dresden speculation that the Fallen can manipulate the coins.

And it's totally fine for Dee to have won this round.

Think of them as the poor mans Ring of Power (appropriate, as that's exactly what they are). They are sentient in their coin form, but not completely free to act. They can escape from one host they find impossible to mannipulate (say, for instance, someone crippled or mentally damaged) even if it's not the will of their host, or slip through cracks on their own, naturally enough, and no matter how good the bindings they can slip out of attempted containment on their own. Which is why they didn't just get thrown into the sea and left there, or shot into space. They'd find their way back, sooner rather then later, and then nobody would have a clue where they wound up.
Because they are MEANT to be used.

Point taken, Cracklord: while I was trying to bluff Nicodemus in-character, I half expected that the coin would 'get fumbled' One Ring style.

And thank you, Industrious. I appreciate it.

I try not to inconvenience other PCs wishes too much. (Key Words being too much).

And in any case, Dee's got the coin by him. So he'll be tempted at one point or another.

Also, Ivy is really, really damaged. I mean, wow.

Yeah well, Mister needs a home. I was actually planning on having Kincaid pick him up and bring him over, but I never got around to it.

Not to mention Mouse:

Actually, I suspect Mouse is sticking very close to poor, poor, Maggie, wherever Father Forthill placed her. Ditto for Toot-Toot and the Za-Lord's Guard, considering that Dresden's unknowing daughter is the heir to the Throne of Pizza Lord.

They'll forget the Za-lord ever existed in a week. It's how they work.